Cecil the Lion’s hunter becomes the hunted

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The killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe by American dentist and trophy hunter Walter Palmer is being investigated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to see if it was part of a conspiracy to violate US laws against illegal wildlife trading.

The service is probing the killing under the Lacey Act, which bars trading in wildlife that has been illegally killed, transported or sold, says the source said on July 30.

Palmer, whose practice is in suburban Minneapolis, has admitted to killing the 13-year-old lion and tourist attraction, in July.

Questions have been raised by the Zimbabwe government and animal conservationists about Cecil’s death outside the Hwange National Park, where he was the head of two lion prides.

The best known lion in Zimbabwe is said to have been lured from the park with bait, shot with an arrow, tracked for 40 hours, shot dead with a rifle and then beheaded and skinned. Cecil was wearing a GPS collar as part of a research project run by Oxford University.

Piper Hoppe, 10, from Minnetonka, Minnesota, holds a sign at the doorway of River Bluff Dental clinic in protest against the killing of a famous lion in Zimbabwe, in Bloomington, Minnesota on July 29. On July 28, a Zimbabwean court charged professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst with failing to prevent an American from unlawfully killing ‘Cecil’, the southern African country’s best-known lion. The American, Walter James Palmer, a Minnesota dentist who paid US$50,000 (RM191,777) to kill the lion, has left Zimbabwe. He says he did kill the animal but believed the hunt was legal and that the necessary permits had been issued. Photo: Reuters/Eric Miller

Drive to end illegal trade

The Obama administration has made a major push to combat wildlife trafficking, issuing a national plan earlier this year to address it and cracking down on domestic trade in African elephant ivory.

With some of the strongest laws in the world to protect endangered species, the US government has attempted to prevent the slaughter of such animals internationally by targeting the multibillion-dollar market for illegal wildlife items.

In 2014, the service proposed listing the African lion as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. The proposal, which is being finalised, would create a permit process for importing lion trophies from countries that properly manage the species.

Estimates vary on how many lions are left in Africa, with a low end of fewer than 20,000. There has been a significant decline in the African lion population over the past 20 years.

The Lacey Act can be used to prosecute anyone who violates wildlife protections under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The African lion is protected under CITES, which requires exporters of the animal to get a permit from its home country. The lion or its parts cannot be imported into the United States unless it meets CITES requirements.

A K-9 Unit Bloomington Police dog sniffs at stuffed animals blocking the doorway of River Bluff Dental clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota on July 29. The stuffed toys were laid in front of the clinic in protest against the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe. Photo: Reuters/Eric Miller

Government seeks hunter

Separately, the Fish & Wildlife Service says it has been unable to contact Palmer.

Edward Grace, deputy chief of law enforcement for the service, issued a statement urging Palmer to immediately contact the agency.

A Florida newspaper reported on Wednesday that reporters had gathered around a US$1.1mil (RM4,216,091) home in southwest Florida thought to belong to Palmer. It was unclear whether he was there or even in the US.

Cecil’s death has sparked global outrage, with intense social media reaction against Palmer, protests outside his practice, and calls for him to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face poaching charges.

The most hated man in the world right now: Walter Palmer, lion killer.

The White House says on July 30 it would review a public petition to extradite Palmer, noting it had exceeded a required 100,000 signatures. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it would be up to the US Justice Department to respond to an extradition order.

In a Twitter post on July 30, Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe calls the killing tragic and says his agency would “go where facts lead” in its investigation.

A local hunter has been charged in Zimbabwe with failing to prevent the unlawful killing of the lion. It has been reported that Palmer was with the other hunter and a local farmer during the hunt and that it took place without proper permits and at night. Palmer has not been charged in Zimbabwe or the US.

The Obama administration has pushed for tougher penalties for wildlife trafficking crimes and aggressively pursued groups involved in the trade.

In a high profile case last year, the US government indicted a South African company for selling illegal rhinoceros hunts to Americans and secretly trafficking in the endangered animals’ horns.

Over the past three years, the US government has made more than 30 arrests involving the rhino horn trade. The government has seized more than US$2mil in cash and US$1mil in gold as a part of this effort. – Reuters/Ayesha Rascoe & Barbara Liston